


Poisons and Antidotes

by Book_of_Disorders



Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: Adam is gay, M/M, Mention of abuse, musician au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Book_of_Disorders/pseuds/Book_of_Disorders
Summary: Sometimes people can connect so quickly after a night of drinking, singing, and deep talks. This is one those times.Inspired by lunetechcentral (tumblr) and Poison by Connor Parnell (link at top of chapter 1)
Relationships: Adam/Kai (The Hollow)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1CWvEiZ0gE
> 
> LISTEN BEFORE READING PLEASE! It will make alot more sense.

Adam looked over the crowd of people at the open mic night. Adam was a songwriter looking for some talent to work with. He had some songs written, some melodies made, just no talent with singing. It was always the thing he was missing. Throw him almost any musical instrument, he can play it. Ask him to create and record a full melody for lyrics he can have it done in a week. But for some reason, he can’t sing. It’s annoying. 

Adam had a piece of paper in front of him, ready to write names and take notes. Between that, his tall beer and an order of chips and salsa, Adam definitely didn’t give off a ‘I’m here to meet people and be social’ kind of vibe. So why the fuck did people keep coming up to him? 

“Hi, honey. Are you here to perform? You have the face for it” A beautiful blonde girl draped herself over Adam’s table. She had a low cut shirt that she was trying to use to her advantage. 

“Nope, I’m here on business. If you could find another table I’d appreciate it.” Adam scribbled some nonsense down in an attempt to make his claim more believable. I mean, it wasn’t WRONG. 

“Aw, baby” She rubbed his forearm “Can I give you some business?” 

“I’m gay and as I said before, working. Please find another table.” 

“You heard the man” 

Adam looked up and saw his favorite person. The beautiful beautiful Mira Smith. 

“I thought you said you were gay” The girl snapped. 

“He did.” Mira said, stepping close to the girl “And he’s allowed to have friends now. Leave, before I make you.” The girl rolled her eyes and walked away. 

“Thanks, I owe you one” Adam took a long drink from his beer. 

“You owe me just for being here. I’m not even in the music industry and yet you want me to scout out singers with you” Mira took a seat next to Adam. 

“Yeah, but I respect your opinion and you have a trained ear.” 

“One of these days, I’m going to learn to say no to you” Mira ordered her usual whiskey sour.

“Yeah, the same day you actually start hating music,” Adam didn’t mean to have the bitterness behind his voice but… he just misses her. 

“I’m leaving,” Mira goes to stand up.

“Mira, stop! I-I’m sorry. I’m still adjusting… and hoping that you’ll end up back with me on my couch at 3 am over a guitar and a piano and too many lyrics.” Adam gave her a small smile. Mira gave Adam a sad look but sat back down without saying anything. 

At 10 o’clock, the stage opened up for performers to come up. Comedians usually dominate open mic nights because it's an easy way to test out new material. Every now and then you’ll have a singer come up to get some performance experience. Usually covers that are played acoustically. 

“I like her. Your style is relaxed with alot to show and she has a nice range.” Mira said as a performer walked off the stage. 

“Her name was Miranda Long right? I agree but she seems really uncomfortable on stage. I’m not sure if she really wants to be a full time performer.” Adam said. 

“Dude, this is an open mic. You can’t expect to get much here” Mira said and ordered more drinks for Adam and herself. “We’ve been here for well over an hour and we’ve heard 3 singers, none of them star material.”

“I know but my guts has me saying I'm going to find someone great here” Adam looked between his notepad and the stage. That stage held the answers to what he was looking for. He knows it. 

“You and your gut. I swear you have to be careful how stuck into plans you get. It’ll be there death of you one day”

“Yeah, don’t worry. You’ve told me” Adam smiled at Mira who lovingly hit Adam’s arm.

“Next up, Kai Welsh! He’s going to be performing from our piano so turn your attention to the side” 

The lights were shifted so the audience could easily see Kai at the piano. Adam had come to this place for a while and he didn’t know that that piano was usable. He genuinely thought it was decoration. 

The fact this Kai character was performing piano immediately pulled in Adam’s attention. Piano was Adam’s favorite instrument and it was always his go to for when he needed to play with a melody. The seat at the piano is where Adam was happiest so part of him wanted to find his perfect singer at that same place. 

Kai started up a beautiful tune that Adam didn’t recognize. Adam and Mira looked at each other in shock. Was this an original song? At an open mic night? 

“The sunsets in your eyes, our love burns and it dies, Now it's just bitterness and the same old lies” 

Adam’s heart leap through his chest. The smooth voice dripped out of Kai’s mouth as he sang words that meant much more to him than just a random song he wrote. Each syllable had a purpose and Adam could tell. This man had a story to tell. And Adam wanted to listen to every word. 

“And in the light of day, I step further away, Our shadows grow alone, soon enough you’ll be gone” 

Mira was shocked by Kai. He had walked up with slouched shoulders and an old baseball t-shirt but now he was singing and holding the spotlight like he owned it. Every person in the bar was silent, listening to Kai’s song filtering through the room. 

“You are a poison, you are no good for me, you are the reason that I have to be, careful with my heart, right from the start, because you never know what lies in the dark” 

The words that flooded the room let you know exactly what he went through. Kai had no issues hiding. Or maybe he did, which is why he never looked at the audience. 

“I wish I could turn back time, take back what was mine, maybe then I could have seen all the warning signs” 

Adam didn’t understand it. Kai wasn’t engaging the audience at all but he had every person’s attention. No one dared to move. No one dared to speak. Kai had something to say and he was going to say it. 

“There’ll be a price to pay for every time you had your way, Something died in me then, And it’ll never happen again” 

The way those words dripped from Kai’s mouth told everyone this song was written to kill. This song was written to look at a certain person and lay bare what they did. 

“You are a poison, you are no good for me, you are the reason that I have to be, careful with my heart, right from the start, because you never know what lies in the dark” 

It was overwhelming. Adam couldn’t figure out if Kai was healing or breaking more with each word. 

“Give me release just let me go, give me peace, can’t take much more, Give me release just let me go, give me peace because I’m so- ”

Kai finally looked away from his hands. He looked to the ceiling, as if to say a prayer or beg some deity for something. Adam could see the tears teasing the edge of his eyelids. 

“Sick of this poison, I know you’re no good for me, you are the reason that I have to be, careful with my heart, right from the start, because I know you’re somewhere in the dark” 

Kai’s focus wiped back to the piano. He slammed out each note. He was telling everyone what this person has him feeling day in and day out. The lyrics may have said that Kai’s torturer was in the dark, but Kai was there too. 

“Careful with my heart, right from the start because I know you’re somewhere in the dark” 

Everyone was silent for a moment. No one came to this open mic expecting THAT. Kai sat for a moment hiding his face. The moment he got up to leave, everyone applauded. There was loud clapping, whistles, and screams. Kai’s tear spilled over but Adam could see it wasn’t from happiness. He was sad people loved that song. 

“Mira, I honestly don’t care about your notes. He’s the one. I want to make music with him.” 

Mira looked at Adam. He was still following Kai with his eyes. And Mira hadn’t seen that look since… since they were making music together. She could tell he was itching to sit at a piano with him.

“Ok, I’ll cover the bill here. Use the money to buy him a few drinks.” Adam turned to Mira and hugged her. 

“Thank you, Mira. I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you everything.” Mira smiled. She could almost see the string pulling Adam to Kai. 

Adam had found her replacement. She chose to step out so Adam had to replace her. It was logical to understand that it wasn’t a bad thing. Actually it's a good thing. But, god, Kai was something else all together. Kai and Adam would work wonderfully together but Kai felt like a loose canon. He could explode at any time. And Adam would get hurt if he was standing too close.

“That boy is going to break you” 

“I know... And I can't bring myself to care.”


	2. Chapter 2

Adam ran to approach Kai. He paused before actually going to his table. Kai was sitting alone. He had an empty glass in front of him and was looking at his phone. Adam couldn’t tell if he was ordering another drink or heading out. 

It’s now or never. 

“Hi, um, I’m Adam.” Adam leaned on the table trying to look kind of cool. “I have a proposal for you. If you give me some of you time, we can talk about it over a drink.” 

“Sorry, I’m not interested in going home with someone tonight.” 

“Oh shit! Sorry! I didn’t… Let me start over” 

“No,” KAi got up and started to walk away. Adam almost started panicking. 

“I WANT TO MAKE MUSIC!” Adam yelled after him. 

“Good for you.” Kai continued to walk and Adam walked with him. 

“Please listen to me. You have an amazing voice. I can’t sing for shit but I can literally play anything and I write good music. And you wrote that amazing song! I want to record it and…” 

“That song is never getting recorded!” Kai stopped and turned to Adam. “I'm burning the sheet music when I get home. I just needed to get it out of my system.” 

“YOU'RE WHAT?” That song didn’t deserve to be a pile of ashes. It deserved to be listened to. To show people you can be broken but not worthless. 

“You heard me. Now leave me alone.” Kai started to walk away. 

“Oh no.” Adam ran in front of Kai. “You've peaked my interest now. Burning sheet music after one performance is a level of dramatic I can respect. I am willing and able to hunt you down. So let me buy you a drink and you can say no to making music with me but please… at least hear me out.” 

Kai didn’t want anything to do with the idea of recording his song. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to make music anymore. It felt like a burden he carried with him, not a passion he has. But for some reason, this Adam guy seemed to have a type of faith in him that made him want to sit at a piano and just sing. That’s a type of faith he’s never had before. 

“Fine, but you’re buying my drink.” 

Adam’s smile was blinding. He grabbed Kai’s hand and pulled him to the bar. Kai was suddenly afraid he signed up for something he wasn’t ready for. But somehow Adam was making him want to be ready. 

“Ok so, I have a full album of songs ready. Obviously we’ll go over them and adjust to fit your voice and style. And you’d have full veto power on songs you hate. And…” 

“How do I know you’re even any good?” Kai crossed his arms and leaned away from Adam. “You’ve seen me perform and sing but I have no idea where you stand in talent.” 

“I have a song!” Adam pulled out his phone.”The sheet music and lyrics…” 

“Go perform it,” Kai nodded toward the stage. 

“I can’t sing,” Adam stated. 

“Then stop wasting me time,” Kai started to get up. 

“Please! Just… just look,” Adam held out his phone. Kai saw the notes and lyrics. He could walk away. He could never think about this Adam guy ever again. But he picks up the phone. 

“Need” Kai read the name out loud. The music included only vocals, piano, guitar, and drums. And it looked like it would be amazing to sing. 

“Like it?” Adam’s large eyes sparkled with excitement. And Kai is starting to hate that look because he can feel the string pulling him closer and closer. 

“What’s the story behind it?” Kai asked, changing the subject. “A song like this doesn’t just pop out of thin air.” 

“How about we perform it and I’ll tell you.” Adam smiled. “You just sing, I’ll handle everything else.” 

“There’s three instruments involved with this. How do you plan on pulling that off?” 

“They have recording equipment so one person can play multiple instruments at once. And I can play all the instruments.” 

“Really? You’re trying to tell me, you write music, play piano, guitar, and drums but can’t sing?” 

“8” 

“What?” 

“I play 8 instruments.” Adam smirked, ready to impress. “Or 8-ish instruments. I can play anything in the Violin family, I play trumpet, I play anything with a reed,especially the saxophone, plus the instruments listed there. And yes. I can’t sing” 

“That’s lame,” Kai laughed as Adam’s self confident look fell to the floor. Adam’s trying so hard to impress Kai so Kai’ll make music with him and Kai isn’t ready to give Adam the satisfaction of knowing Kai was considering. If Adam could live up to this reputation he was setting up for himself. 

“Also, you can’t just say you can play anything with a reed. That’s everything from a clarinet to a duduk. Do you know what a duduk is?” Kai said, crossing his arms. 

Adam opened his mouth then closed it. “I don’t” 

“Exactly Mr. Big Shot.” Kai turned his attention back to the sheet music. “Now, let me read through this song a few times then we’ll sing it. Or I’ll sing it while you attempt to keep up” 

Adam smiled again. Kai hated that Adam’s smile made him feel bright and alive. 

“Trust me. It’s going to be amazing” Adam ran up to the person announcing everyone. No one was on stage so Adam and Kai could go up when they were ready. Adam helped them set up the equipment he needed. 

Kai walked up and stood alone in front of the microphone. Honestly he hated sight reading but… he needed to know if Adam was for real or not. Adam felt like this being that comes in like a thunderstorm then quickly disappears, leaving you wondering if the dancing in rain was worth being soaked to the bone. 

As Kai walked up, Adam picked the electric guitar and started to riff. Kai almost missed a step when he heard it. Adam went into ‘Cliffs of Dover’ by Eric Johnson like it was nothing. He made it look like he was just warming up. And honestly, Kai could believe he was. 

Adam looked up and saw Kai’s face. It was almost unreadable. A weird mix of shock, impressed, and uncontrollable happiness. Which confused Adam alittle. But it was just so infectious. He couldn’t stop himself from just embracing his audience, which for some reason only felt like Kai. He hated he had to break eye contact to make sure he was hitting the notes correctly. 

People zoned in on Adam, not even noticing Kai walking up. They started making small hollers and excited noises. Some people started clapping along. 

Suddenly, Adam stopped mid song. Some people booed so he would finish. 

“You didn’t have to stop.” Kai said, finally joining him on stage. 

“Yeah but I have someone important to perform with.” Adam smiled and double checked his equipment. Kai stood awkwardly. He wasn’t sure if he could keep up with Adam or perform next to him. Not when he was able to engage the audience so quickly alone. 

When Adam started on the drums, Kai couldn’t keep his eyes off him. He set the beat and jumped to the guitar. Kai was curious what instrument he would favor. The music wasn’t written to be performed this way so Adam was going to have to sacrifice an instrument but still keep the song sounding good. Kai was excited to watch Adam’s mind work. 

“When I look in the mirror, I see your face, Our eyes lines up, our smiles the same. I don’t understand how we look so alike, But so different in the end” 

By the end of the first chorus, Adam was seated at the piano. Something about how Adam’s hand looked on the keys made Kai realize that Adam loved the piano the most. Each finger was so careful, so purposeful. When he was on the drums or the guitar, there was a feeling of him just playing. But Adam looked like he found his home in ebony and ivory. 

“I don’t need you, I don’t need you here. I don’t need you to know who I am. I don’t need to sing the way that you know. Even tho you taught me each and every note” 

Adam had to quickly jump to the guitar to change the chorus. It was shockingly smooth. Like no one should have been able to do that. And he went back to the piano like it was nothing. He slid around like he wasn’t even trying. Kai almost envied him. 

“Our voice and our eyes match, The emotions an avalanche I can’t handle having anymore. WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR,” 

Kai couldn’t stop himself. He sat next to Adam on the piano. If Kai didn’t know better, he would have guessed this caused a stumble over the keys. Kai noticed Adam was trying to be confident, almost flirty. But Kai was able to see he was nervous because Kai was watching so closely. 

“I don’t need you I don’t want to need you But I only know needing you I wanna feel sane I wanna feel okay Cause you’re only one to blame” 

Kai thinks he accidentally changed the meaning of the words as he sang only to Adam. . 

“I need you like the piano needs each key, I need you to see, all that I am , I need you hear me with the words you’ve taught me, You shaped my sound, you made me this. And I hate it and hate it and hate it. But in the end you had no need for me” 

Kai held the last note even though the music didn’t tell him to. He wasn’t sure if he was desperate to extend this performance or if he wanted to see how Adam would react. I guess it was both. 

As the last note died, Kai couldn’t help but just stare at Adam for a moment. He was not bluffing. 

“Come on,” Adam waved Kai away from the front stage and they paused off to the side. It was a stalemate. Kai not wanting to admit Adam has his full attention while all Adam wanted to hear was that he was right. Kai decided not to give him the satisfaction. 

“So, you owe me an explanation.” Kai pulled Adam back to the bar. Adam laughed. Kai seemed to settle down around him and Adam was so excited about it. They sat on the barstools next to each other and Kai scooted closer to Adam. 

“It was the last song my best friend, Mira, and I worked on before she quit music for a “real job”.” Adam used air quotes and Kai could hear the salt falling off his tongue. 

“It's not about you?” Kai got the bartender’s attention and ordered two beers. 

“Nope, it's about her family. She's adopted and it was an open adoption but her biological parents stopped showing up and never called or explained why. Really messes with her.” 

“So you think you're too good to write songs about your life?” Kai said with a bitterness laced in his voice. He took a deep drink from the glass as soon as it was placed in front of him. 

“No, I just couldn’t cope with the idea of people hating it.” 

Kai paused. He never thought about songs like that. It really was laying yourself out for people to see and judge. And if they don’t like the song, do they not like you?

“Sorry, I was being an asshole.” 

“Catching a theme here” Adam laughed. 

“Yeah I guess you’d get that impression. I’ve been trying to get you to leave me alone.” 

“And I hope that song showed you I know what I’m doing. I just- I just really want to make music with you. I see so much talent in you. And I can’t just let it go” 

“I just don’t know if I’m ok to make music. I know I can but… can I actually?” Kai was talking to himself at this point. He knows the stuff he writes is good. He knows he’s a good performer. But it feels like everything he sees in music and why he loves music is gone because of… I guess you could say everything. 

Adam thinks he knows what’s going on. ‘Poison’ didn’t really leave much to the imagination with what happened to Kai. But Adam craves to be the person to make him feel safe at a piano again. Part of Adam is scared because he might just be trying to fix something with Kai that he can’t seem to fix with Mira. And Adam doesn’t know if that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing. 

“So, tell me more about this Mira character. She seems interesting.” Kai turned to Adam, desperate to change the topic. Adam hesitated before answering. 

“Well, Mira is my best friend. We met in high school when I moved schools. Her dads were huge volunteers in the school’s GSA and she came to a lot of the events and we just… clicked I guess. Between that and music class.” Adam snorted a laugh at the memory he was about to talk about. 

“I was there like 3 weeks and I had been showing off my piano skills to the class. The other kids put random pages from different songs and I sight read everything. She came up and said ‘If you can do that so well why do you sound like a dying pig when you sing?’ We were inseparable after that.” 

“Oh my god. She sounds like someone I could get along with.” Kai hesitated before asking his next question. “Why doesn’t she make music with you? Another horrible singer?”

“Oh no!” Adam shifted, excitedly babbling about Mira. “her voice is like Ariana Grande’s. This kind of effortlessness while using complex vocal techniques. Its just…” Adam wasn't sure if it was okay to fully explain Mira’s situation. If Kai ends up becoming consistent in Adam’s life then he’ll meet her and that could be weird if she finds out Adam told Kai all her deepest darkest secrets. But on the other hand Adam wants to answer Kai’s question. 

“Not your story to tell me?” Kai filled in after Adam’s long pause. 

“Yeah, sorry.” 

“It’s ok. I have better things to worry about” Kai waved a hand to dismiss the conversation. 

“Can I ask why you’re so scared of music?” 

“I’m not afraid of music,” Kai realized he responded so quickly and so harshly that it definitely seemed like he was afraid of music. Adam just responded with a Look. 

“Music used to be a safezone for me.” Kai started hesitantly. “I never let anyone listen to my original stuff. It was all just for me and a very personal thing you know? Then I opened up to one person and they FUCKED IT UP FOR THE REST OF YALL.” Kai laughed and finished his beer. Adam didn’t hear the humor. 

Kai turned to Adam with a humorous smile, like he was on the verge of laughing. Adam was partially convinced Kai had actually been trying to joke around. At the end of the day, he was probably both joking and not joking. 

“Are you going to go into detail more or leave me hanging?” 

“Leaving you hanging. Just like we’re leaving this bar.”

“We are?” Adam watched as Kai started walking away. He quickly waved the bartender and threw some money that he hoped included a large tip. Always tip your bartenders well. 

“Kai! Wait!” Adam ran out of the front door and caught up with Kai. “Where are we going?” 

“My place,” Kai looked around for the uber he called. “We’re going to write a song and see what happens.” 

“Really?!” Adam let a smile take over his face and he was suddenly full of energy. 

“Yup, but we’re not going to write just any song. We’re writing one about you” Kai booped Adam’s nose as he said ‘you’.

“Sure, if it means you’ll make music with me!’ Adam believed that he’d won. 

“We’ll see, pretty boy.” Kai walked up to the car that pulled up to see if it was the Uber. 

‘Pretty boy?’ Adam couldn’t help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand I'm a horrible person who makes promises they can't keep but I really am trying to finish this.


End file.
